truth in politicians?

three murders: two connected and one seemingly unrelated.  or so the world thought.  State of Play - so it seems.

academy award winner russell crowe plays cal mccaffrey, a dc reporter assigned to investigate the death of his college roommate's, up-and-coming politician stephan collins (ben affleck),  research assistant.  stumbling upon suspicious evidence and withholding them from the police assigned to the case, cal along with colleague della frye (rachel mcadams) seek to find the truth.

placing a love triangle on the line is a risky move, even for cal mccaffrey.  does cal, who keeps focusing on his story use his friend and his wife as sources or is he trying to protect them?  or do collins and his wife use cal as their source and use the case as payback from cal using them in the past? 

in a normal world - finding truth may not involve jeopardizing friendships, careers and maybe even self dignity.  however, clearly when a "friend" who uses his own friend to cover up mistakes, especially when he is a public official, for personal gains is a definite no-no.

State of Play incorporates verbal and non-verbal communication to get the message across. cal and della pick up on puzzle pieces to solve not one, but three murders.  director kevin macdonald has definitely earned the title auteur in this work and should be placed on the right hand of steven spielberg and george lucas.  State of Play is the ultimate neo-noir film.

who's the hypocrite?

i give this film 4.5 stars out of 5.